The use of imatinib mesylate is associated with a progression free survival of 41?months in first line treatment of metastatic or locally advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and other studies approved that adjuvant imatinib treatment improves the recurrence-free survival in patients with GIST. Current recommendations include 1?year adjuvant treatment in GIST patients at risk but active studies explore different durations of treatment with an interval of up to 5?years. While the most frequent adverse events (AEs) are blood count alterations, abdominal discomfort and edema, the occurrence of grade 3 or 4 increase of AST or ALT is specified with 2.1% and 2.7% respectively.
